'Gossip Girl' recap: Dan and Serena, work out your issues (2024)

It was the annual Snowflake Ball Monday night on "Gossip Girl," and while one couple was getting together, even after lies and deception, another couple was fighting to cut ties and stay friends. Can you guess who was whom?

Blair wants nothing but perfection when it comes to her date for the annual Snowflake Ball. She’s compiled a list of the best suitors, but Chuck, as usual, can’t help crushing her dreams. Why she weighs her decisions so heavily on his opinion I just don’t know; Oh wait, it’s because she’s in love with him! Dan and Serena have decided to go solo but together, as friends of course. Yeah, right!

Jenny is having issues coping with two things – her lost career and her lost Nate. She asks Vanessa what she thinks may have happened, but Vanessa tells her she has no idea, which we all know is not true. I still can’t believe she stole that later. That is so not her. At least she’ll have making a dress for someone she hates to keep her occupied.

Lily and Bart are still not talking, and Lily and Rufus are still constantly talking. Those two seem to be getting pretty close. Bart finally corners her to talk. He tells her he fired his private investigator, and he will no longer be snooping around. He includes that he can change, but he never tells her he is sorry.

Guess who was making out on the street in broad daylight… Nate and Vanessa! Nate says he is really happy with the two of them. I mean, Jenny did completely blow him off… or did she. It doesn’t take too long for Jenny to find out about the pair though, via a Gossip Girl text of course. When Vanessa returns to the loft, Jenny has nothing good to say to her. Vanessa reminds her that she kissed Nate behind her back first and informs her the two will be going to the ball together before storming out.

Aaron’s ex-girlfriend Lexi is in town, and she is not making a good impression on Serena. She makes fun of the photos Aaron took of Serena and then makes a date with Dan. Wow.

Back in Blair’s world, Chuck and she have decided to choose one another’s dates. So, what’s the catch? If Chuck likes his date, Blair gets his limo for one month. If Blair likes her date, Chuck gets her beloved maid. Things are never easy between these two, are they?

After plenty of pleading, Aaron has decided to go to the ball with Serena. When Lexi learns this, she basically manipulates Dan in to asking her. This girl is serious trouble. Dan should be thrilled though, especially since, according to Aaron, Lexi likes to sleep with guys on the first date as a form of political protest.

Bart learns that Chuck was the one who opened the safe.

I was starting to believe that Serena was really OK with this whole Dan and Lexi thing, but she is freaking out. Blair is right though when she says that she doubts Dan is freaking out over Serena and Aaron.

Jenny has decided to play nice with Vanessa, sort of. After getting a nasty idea from her frenemies, she tells Vanessa she made a dress for her for the ball. What Vanessa doesn’t know is that the dress is see through! You can tell that she feels bad, but she still does it. Vanessa is also starting to feel bad. She starts to tell her about the letter, but is interrupted by a phone call from Nate.

Lily decides to go to the ball without Bart after she finds out he is in a meeting with the private investigator he is no longer supposed to be speaking to.

At the ball, Blair seems less than pleased with Chuck’s choice. She calls him a “Canal Street knockoff,” which he absolutely is, but so is her date for him. It’s like seeing double. Very creepy.

When Lily arrives at the ball, she tells Rufus that she is leaving Bart but doesn’t expect anything from him (Rufus). Then the two dance.

Dan finds out from Lexi that Serena has given Aaron the green light, and Dan actually confronts Serena about. “Is there anything you want to talk about?” he says to her. No dad, there isn’t! Feeling embarrassed, Serena tells Dan that Lexi plans to seduce him that night, but is surprised when Dan seems hesitant.

When Vanessa shows up at the ball in her see through gown, she tells Jenny that she is dumping Nate. Jenny goes to stop her before the three witches shine the spotlight on her, but she stops midstride. And before Vanessa ends things with Nate, she tells him all about how she stole Jenny’s letter. Just as she goes to walk away, the light is turned on and everyone sees what Vanessa has to offer. Nate asks Jenny if she did that to Vanessa, and she admits she did. Nate is shocked by what Jenny has done and tells her that he is glad she didn’t get the letter because she isn’t the person he thought she was anyway.

I’m not sure who wins in this situation, but Blair and Chuck’s dates are caught making out with one another in a dark corner. Blair can’t believe that their clones can work it out, but they can’t. Chuck says he doesn’t want to change the way things are between them, and they even dance at the end of the night. Those two are so meant to be!

Rufus finally tells Lily that he regrets letting her leave on her wedding day, that he didn’t think he could give her what she needed. The two are getting very close at this ball, and unfortunately they’ve been caught together. Chuck spots the pair and calls his father to come quickly. This call takes place right after Bart tells the private investigator he is no longer needed and the information found during his final assignment (the one to find out why Lily was in a hospital) is no longer needed. The cal l changes everything though. Rufus wants to know now. Me too! Chuck is however nice enough to warn Lily that Bart is on his way, but also tells her that she owes him a conversation, I’m guessing about Rufus.

I’m surprised to say this, but after his talk with Jenny, Nate goes after Vanessa. He tells her that she is the one he wants to be with, and the new couple shares a steamy kiss. I guess this makes up for being naked in front of everyone. Jenny sees the two make up, but still tells off the three witches who talked her in to making the dress mistake.

At the end of the night Lexi tries to drag Dan off in to private, but he doesn’t seem that interested. When Serena pulls him aside to apologize for her attitude earlier, the two “cut mythological ties” by telling one another that their night together was one of the most amazing nights they’ve ever had. Their conversation is cut though when Lily runs over to tell Serena that Bart has been in an accident. Now wait, does that mean he learned Lily’s secret or not? And isn’t it weird that he would be in an accident on the same night he learns this shocking news? Only on television!

I think I gave plenty of thoughts throughout the night, so I’ll just leave you with these small notes: Dan and Serena need to deal with their issues and get together; Chuck and Blair will forever be Chuck and Blair, no matter how much they belong together; and Jenny needs to forget about Nate because she was never in love with him anyway.